Artificial eye



July 22 1952 F. w. JARDoN ETAL 2,603,791

ARTIFICIAL EYE v Filed Feb. 9, 1944 2 Simms-SHEET 1'- July 22, 1952 F.w. JARDoN ETAL 2,603,791

ARTIFICIAL EYE Filed Feb. 9, 1944 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR Wim'Patented July 22, 1952 ARTIFICIAL EYE Fritz W. Jardon, Evanston, Ill.,and Reuel" W. Bennett, Michigan City, Ind., assignors to AmericanOptical Company,

Southbridge,

Mass.,` a voluntary association of Massachusetts Application February 9,1944,"seria1'No. 521,646

This invention relates to the art of manufacturing artificial eyes, andit is particularly directed to improvements in artificial eyesconstructed'of plastic material as distinguished from glass and similarfrangible materials which have previously been used for this purpose.

One object of the invention is to provide a new and improved articialeye composed of plastic,' together with novel and practicable methods ofconstructing the same.

-Anothe'r object of the invention is to provide an artificial eye inwhich the appearance ofv al naturalfeye is faithfully reproduced andwhich is adapted to retain such appearance permanently.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of constructingan articial eye which permits of making the basic structure inquantities and assembling chosen elements to producev the desired tintor color for matching Ythe natural eye of the patient.

It is also anobject of the invention to provide an--artiiicial eyeconstructed of plastic material adapted to withstand rough usage oraccident withoutv breaking, and of a composition which will-mbeunaffectedV by Contact vwith the body tissuesl and will beneutral withrespect rthereto soasto cause no discomfort to the wearer.

'More specifically, this invention undertakes to provide a type ofconstruction for an articial eye in which the iris portion may becomposed of one or more colored photographic reproductions of anaturaliris or of one or more vcolored units of pigment, arranged toprovide the natural brous appearance, with such units superimposed inthe relation of positive to positive, negative to negativeor positive tonegative in an assembly. to produce an appearance of depth,.and also tosecure the desired color tone, such units being sealed inthe body of thearticial eye by means of a transparent corneal section of plasti-c material. l

Other o bjectsand advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description takeny in connection with the drawings in' whichz'Fig. 1fis a side relevation partly in section,v

showing one form of artificial eye embodying this invention in which asingle colored rdisk,v

claims.

, 2 ment is supplemented n ing plates and a peripheral blending ring to`produce a more natural appearance. Y

Fig. 3 is also a side elevation, partly in section, showing anartificial eye in which ja relatively thiol; diffusion orrefractingplate is disposed directly over the color pigmentlayer representingthe'iris, with a diffusion screen superimposed upon said plate tolcontrol unwanted reflection rfrom-the surface ofi the pigment layer'andgive the desired optical effect. Y

vFig.-4` illustrates a further modification showing an articial eyepartly Yin section, with anterior .and posterior base plates betweenwhich' the iris pigment layer is disposed., together with' arefractingscreen atthe outer surface of the' anterior-.base plate withcolor pigment lightl distributed in the base plate. Y f

Fig. 5. is also'a. side elevation, partly in section,

showing an artificial eye with a modiiied form of recess inthescleralbody and a modifieddislcv or button containing the representation of`'the iris inserted therein.,

Fig 6 `is a side elevation, partly lin section, showinga plastic eyecomprising the combination oithree thin .photographic or plastic colorplates to represent the iris, with diffusion .or refracting layersspacing themA apart and with va refracting screen vforming the outerlayer of the assembly.'

Fig. 7 is an elevation, partly in section, showinga structure similar tothat of Fig. 6 but with a smaller number of pigment or photographicelements composing the iris.

y Fig. 8 isa side elevation of the scleral body foran artificial eye,partly in section, showing one Fig.Y 10 yis a'sectional view similar toFig.

showing Vthe blending ring in position.

Eig'.' 11 Ais a plan view of the blending ring'alone. Fig..12 is a planview of an iris disk ready for r placement in an artificial eye. .Fig1131isa vplan view of an artificial o f Aveining thereon.

-While we have shown the drawings and shall herein describe in detailcertain preferred forms of our invention, it is to be understoodthat wedo not intend to limit the invention to the ,specific formsdisclosed,.but aim to cover all modifications and alternativeconstructions fall-7' wth a diffusion or refracti eyeas shown 1n Figs. lto 6, including the representation as shown at 3, directly on the flatsurface 2. Vsmall fibres for this purpose may be secured as `shavingscut from disks of colored plastic rotated asexpressed in the appendedclaims.

Various attempts have been made to construct artificial eyes partly orwholly of plastic material, but in some cases it has proved that theplastic employed was detrimental to the tissues of the eye socket whenplaced in contact therewith, and rin other cases-the attempt to sealinto a plastic body an iris or other elements composed of glass hasproduced disappointing results. Our invention provides an arti-cial eyestructureV in which substantially al1 parts are composed of similar Ying within the spirit and scope of the invention `or closely relatedplastic materials so that they Y blend into a monoplastic unit whenyfnallyassembled. The plastic we have chosen has been found, byexperiment, to be neutral in contactv with human tissues so that there.is no irritation or inflammation set up by an 'articial eye formed ofthis material. In addition, we have devised novel methods of providingan artificial iris having an entirely natural appearance, and soconstructed that an articial eye can be matched with the remainingnatural eye of the patient so perfectly as to color and otherpeculiarities of appearance as to challenge detection. Y Y v As shown inthe drawings, the body or scleral portion I of Ythe artificial eye isconstructed in the usual form which may vary somewhat in size and shape,and is provided with a substantially circular, flat table area 2 which,`in mostV cases, is the bottom wall 4of, a recess formed in the outerorforward portion of the body I to receive the iris. We have found that avery realistic riris may be produced photographically or may beVconstructed manuallyrby arranging or` weaving ine libres of coloredplastic material into a circular design somewhat resembling that shownin Fig. 12, preferably arranging these libres o n a thinV disk ofplastic material serving as a temporary support, although with the bodyform shown in Fig. l such an iris might be arranged under a phonographneedle or like cutting tool or shredder, and it is found that suchfibres readily adhere to a plastic surface as they are The arranged Y.bythe artist in designing the represeng tation ,of the iris; or this mayalso be produced by lithography or etching; However, we prefer to coatthe surface 2 with a thin film 2a of partially polymerized plastic,similar in composition to the body I, to serve as an adhesive to holdthe iris in position. Substantially centrally within the iris ldisk 3there is placed a small body '4 of black or dark brown plastic torepresent the pupil of the eye.

2 by means of a thin lm of Vplastic 2a'of substantially the samecomposition as the body I, and the entire assembly is then coated withan outer layer of transparent plastic 5 which ismaterially thickened at6, over the iris 3 and pupil 4, v.in :a form corresponding to thecornea'and aqueous `of the anterior chamber of the-natural eye. lThisconstructionprovides a substantially monplas-tic unit, since all of theparts'are of similar vccnnposition and are welded together a manner wellunderstood by those skilled in thel art of dealing with plasticmaterials and involving the Yuse of moderate temperatures approximating2001F.

However, with the relatively simple assembly shownfinrFig. 1 there is avtendency for theirisj disk kto reet light directly so as to cause aglint The pupil member 4 and the iris disk 3 may be cemented to the attable surface '1; portion 6.

hance the natural eiect we add a blending or -color gradation ring S ofwedge-shaped plasticl acting as a prism and said ring is disposedperipherally and forward of the iris layer 3 and its reecting screeny'1. This ring may consist of a tinted plastic to resemble the usualmarginal portion of a natural iris, which has a color gradation blendingthe principal darker area of the iris with the lighter scleral portion.A graduated color effe-ct is secured by making the blending ring 3 ofgraduated orrwedge-shaped crosssection, tapering to a sharp inner apexedge and with its outer and thicker base portion lodged upon thesupporting surface 2 of the body I. This assembly is enclosed in atransparent sheath 5 of plastic material covering the scleral area andincluding a corneal layer 5 covering the iris and the blending ring 8.

Fig. 3 shows a modified structure in which the l body I is formed withasubstantial recess or depression 9 in which the; surface 2 is the bottomsurface of the recess and in which recess there is disposed a pigmentlayer 3 representing the iris, ywith a relativelyV thick diiusing andrefract-V ing plate I0 of transparent plastic material covering the irisdisk. This plate ID may be tintedA Vwith pigment, as suggested by thestippling in f Fig. 3, and there is also shown adifusion screen 7, alsoof plastic material, disposed over the outer face of the plate I Il, Therefracting plate I0 tends to break up direct reflection from the pigmentlayer 3, and the diffused rays are further The blendf Ving ring 8. issimilar to that already described,

controlled by the screening disk 1.

and the entire assembly is venclosed in a transparent plastic coating 5with a thickened corneal The reflectiony from the color pigment'layer 3may also be stopped, to some extent, by the use of a partly polymerizedmonomer, and the presence of the blending ring 8 in this ar'- rangementgives a gradual fading of the scleral color onto Vand over theperipheral portion of the iris 3.

In Fig. 4 we have shown a further modification which has certainadvantages and in which the iris pigment layer 3 is positioned between aposterior base plate or disk I2 of plastic material and an anterior baseplate `I3, also of plastic material; The anterior surface of the plateI3 holds a thin lrefracting screen 'I-of plastic material, and .allthese elements, except the pigment layer, may be substantiallytransparent. However, in somecasesit is found desirable tofdistribute alimited quantity of color pigment in the I basev plates I2 and I3 asrepresented by the stippling in the drawing herewith, thus addingV colortints which will affect the appearance ofthe iris, and may be utilizedto modify a stand-V ard iris disk for'matching avnatural eye of slightlydifferent color tone. The base plates and the screen I also serve torefract and diffusey the light reflected from the iris disk so as toavoid 'Y K glare which would pearance.v

In most ofthe structures shown herein the recess in the scleral body l'is shown as cylindriproduce an unnatural apcal with relatively squarecorners, but, as indicatedl in Fig. 5, this recess may be made withrounded contours, andthe assembly of iris disk 3, refracting plates I5and I6 and with a diffusion ,disk I1, may all be made into a compactbutton form, with rounded edges, and fitted into the recess 9B. It maybe understood that in this and similar structures a cementing coat oftransparent or semi-transparent plastic may be applied, as at 2a,between the'v iris button and the walls of the recess in the scleralbody I, this cementing material being of the same composition as thebody I, preferably ofthe same white tone. v

In the natural eye the iris is composed of interwoven'bres which producean appearance of depthand of color, and upon dissection itis found thatthese libres are disposed in many layers, with those of thepredominating color at the outwardly exposed side of the irisdetermining whether the color is blue or brown., or some other shadeproduced by a. blending of these colors. Therefore, to secure the mostnatural effect we have found that a plurality of pigment layers may besuperimposed, as Vshown in Fig. 6. TheseA layers may be photographicimages of a natural iris in different colors, or they may be woven ofplastic fibres, as already described. One or more vphotographicpositives with predominating color may be superimposed over a negativewith basic color. Rearranging of these negative and positive platesproduces many especially desired results. Inthe arrangement shown lnFig. 7 the innermost'or negative layer 20 is sometimes called thefoundation color, the next or positive layer 2I is considered as theiris` pupillary area and the element 23 is a. plastic' diffusing screen.These .several layers may or may notV be separated by Ydiffusing platesas shown'at I2, I3 and I4, which may be of transparent orsemi-transparent plastic and serve to refract reflected rayssufficiently to avoid glint or glare'from any of 'the pigment layers.The severalpigment layers may be rearranged as to placement to obtainvarious natural effects, because in some natural eyesl the sphincterarea is more forward and in other natural eyes it is depressed, or, ifVdesired, they may be blended together as one layer. They may also bemade of nylon or plastic fibres or other pulverized plastic bers wovento produce the appearance of.. the iris. It may be understood that eachpigment layer may or may not have a central black orv dark brown area 4.representing the pupil, or that vit maybe centrally depressed or raisedso that a dark plastic pupil element 4, such as that shown in Fig. 1 orin Fig. A3, may be mounted on the bottom wall 2, of the recess 9 in thescleral body'I so as to be visible from the front of thel vThe assemblylshown in Fig. 6 includes a blending ring 8 similar to that alreadydescribed,-

eye.

in position onthe annular ledge 28 its' crosswill be suchas indicated.

sectional appearance in Fig.f10.

Fig. 12 is a plan view which may represent any of the iris disks adaptedfor use in accordance with this invention, whether formed of wovenplastic fibres orpigment or produced by a photographic process orlithography as a black and white or colored nlm or layer of xed pigmentor `photographic emulsion. The disk includes the central pupillary area4 surmounted by an annular portion 3| corresponding to the sphinctermuscle region, with a wider annular area 32 directly beyond it andconstituting the region which gives the eye its recognized color. Fig.12 also shows a marginal or peripheral area 33 which indicates thecontrasting rim of the iris which would show in a photographic nlm. In

any case this appearance is afforded by the pres-v ence of theoverlapping blending ring 8, causing.

this portion of the iris to appear lighter or darker than the areav 32,it being understood that area :32 or the area-33 may be the lighter orthe darker as the case may be, and that the contrasting periphery blendsor fades into the adjacent white portion ofthe eyeball, this blendingbeing accomplished by the graduated prism-like crosssection of the ring8, as seen'in Fig. 10, and as already explained in connection with Fig.2.

The main body or scleral portion of the articial eye is made of a whiteor tinted plastic material of any desired shape and size and appearssomewhat as shown in Fig. 9, before the iris has been inserted andsealed in position withv the outer plastic coating 5 and corneal portion6. vWithin the recess 9, the iris elements as shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4,Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 and represented by Fig. 12 are placed. Theblending ring -8 is placed on the table surface 28.

Fine lines 34 as shown in Fig. 13, are drawn or etched by a qualifiedartist on the scleral surface to represent the veins of the eyeball.'I'heselines may be cut or engraved on the surface by means of a sharp.pointed tool, and coloredv by means of inorganic pigments, India ink, orby threads or other foreign substances of. a soluble nature implanted inthe grooves or on the scleral body. This coloring material will, ofcourse, be sealed in position upon application of the outer transparentcoating 5, which is closely similar to the plastic material of which themain body is composed.

After extensive experiment we have found that a satisfactory plasticmaterial for the manufacture of artificial eyes is composed principallyof methyl methacrylate. For cementing pury poses, in uniting the severalelements of the eyes as above described, we prefer a partiallypolymerized methyl methacrylate. This may be either a solution of thepolymerized solid methyl methacrylate in monomeric (liquid) methylmethacrylate or in dimeric, trimeric or liquid polymeric methylmethacrylate, or a mixture of the above named liquids, or a liquidconsisting i Vand Whichmay be Wornfwithout discomfortror' Y injuriouseffect upon the contacting tissues.`

Reference is herewith made to copending Lapplication Serial Number128,106 nled November 18,1949, and now abandoned byV Fritz Wjdardon,sole, which is a division of the instant application.

Weclaim as our invention: Y

l. In an artificial eye,v an iris comprising a plurality ofsuperimposed, differently colored positive and negative photographicimages of a human eye. 1 y

2. In an artificial eye asdefined in claim 1,Y said images being spacedapart inY parallel'planes withV transparent plastic material betweenthem.

3. In an articial eye as defined in claim l, said images being spacedyapart in parallel planesv with transparent plastic material between themand with an outer layer or vtransparent plastic, material serving ras'aA diffusion screen. f

Y11. An artificial iris composed of positive and negative photographicimages arranged in super-A imposed and spaced relation to each other.

55.. An articial iris composed of positive and negative photographicimages arranged in superimposed and spaced relation to each other withat least one ofsaid photographic images embodying pigmentation. j

6. An artiicial eye comprising a scleral'body oi-plastic material havinga recess therein, an iris portion vdisposed in, said recess, saidscleral body, adjacent the recess, supporting a portion taperinginwardly to a relatively sharp edgeiand dening an apertureV of adiameter less than the. diameter `of the iris portion disposed in there.-i

cess anda Vlayerot transparent plastic material overlying said'irisportion, said tapered portion and an adjacent portion of the scleralbody.

7. An artificial eye comprising a scleral body of plastic materialhaving a recess therein, a disclike iris portion disposed in saidrecess, a portion constituting a part of the wall of the recess .sur-

rounding the iris portion and tapering 'in Ian in-i Ward direction-to anannular edge deiinlng an"V aperture'of a diameter less than the'diameter of the iris portion disposed in the recess and a layer oftransparent plastic material overlying said iris portion and an adjacentportion of thev scleral body. l Y- i y Y Y 8. An artificial eyecomprising a scleral body of translucent plasticV material having arecess therein, an iris portion disposed'in Ysaid recess, said articialeye having Va .portion adjacent Vthe peripheryof `the recess formedWithan outer surface substantially ilush with thefadjacent' `outer surfaceof the scleralbody Vand-'having an Vinner'.

surface disposed at an angleto its ,out-,er surfaceso asV to produce aportion taperingin adirection in.- wardly to a relatively 'sharp vapex`edge substantially annular in shape and being of va diameter less than.the .diameter'of the iris portion'dispQ sedl in the recess. and alayerof 'tiinspllllplstl material overlying said iris'portorlgsaidportion 8. having a-relatively sharp inner apex edge and an adjacentportion of the scleral body. 'f y 9. An artificialA eye ofAthe-character described comprising a scleral-body having aniris'incorporated therein, a tinted blending ring overlapping theperiphery of said iris, and a corneal portion enclosing said blendingring and iris, said corneal portionbeing formed of transparent materialand bondedwith' said scleral body.

10. An artificial eye-of the character described comp-rising a scleralbody of plastic material having Van approximately circular recess withan iris disposed therein, a iiat annular surface surrounding said recessand atinted blending ring of plastic material seated on said annularsurface, said ring being of approximately triangular cross-sectiontapering to a'thin inner edge which overlaps theperiphery ofsaid irisand aj thin outer edge substantially merging with the surface of thescleral body and" a corneal portion enclosing said blending ring andiris, said corneal portion being formed of transparent plastic materialand bonded to said scleral body.

1l. An artificial eye of the character described comprising a scleralbody of plastic material having an iris incorporated therein,` a. tintedblending ring of-said plastic material seated on the scleral body andoverlapping the periphery of said iris, anda corneal portion enclosingsaid blending ring and iris, saidcorneal portion vbeing formed oftransparent plastic material andfbonded withsaid'scleral body. Y

l2. An artificial eye of the character described comprising a'scleralbody of translucent plastic material having aV recess ,in the forwardside thereof, an iris. button seated inY said'recess embodying an irisrepresentation and a supporting plate of plastic material, a tintedblending ring of Wedge-shaped plastic material overlapping the peripheryof said iris button, and a corneal portion of transparent plasticmaterial shaped as a continuous sheath to enclose said iris :button andVblending ring and extending over the adjacent outer surface ofthe'scleral body surrounding vsaidy recess Vin bonded relationtherewith;l l

13. An artiiicial eye of (the character described comprising a scleralbody ofv translucent jacent outer surface of the scleral bodysurextending4 over' the vadjacent outer surface ofl the scleral bodysurrounding said recess inY bonded relation therewith. i; i

'aItilQal' .eye of vthe character 1de.-j

scribed comprising a, seleral body of thermoplastic resinous materialhaving an iris incorporated therein composed of suitably colored bres ofthe same resinous material woven to simulate a natural iris. a tintedblending ring overlapping the periphery of said iris, and a cornealportion enclosing said blending ring and iris, said corneal portionbeing formed of said transparent thermoplastic material and bonded withsaid scleral body.

FRITZ W. JARDON. REUEL W. BENNETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Obrig, page 193.

Name Date Burt i. Dec. 19, 1905 Weber Mar. 13, 1917 Whitehouse Oct. 4,1932 Dunner Nov. 6. 1934 Travers Mar. 5. 1935 Gould Aug. 24. 1937 NolesFeb. 5, 1946 Erpf et al Feb. 21. 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date GreatBritain Sept. 27, 1928 OTHER REFERENCES Contact Lenses (Copyright 1942).

